Even though it's only Tuesday, it's already been a busy week since it's the last before Crossover. The
committees and subcommittees have had long dockets and extra meetings to finish
their work by next Tuesday. In the House Education committee, they held several
meetings of the Education Innovation subcommittee and Elementary and Secondary
Education subcommittee yesterday and today. Here’s are the highlights from
those meetings. All bills that reported from the subcommittee will now be
considered before the full committee on Wednesday morning.
Education
Innovation subcommittee – Monday morning meeting
HB895
(Greason) removes existing provisions related to standard
and advanced studies diplomas and standard and verified units of credit.
Additionally, it requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school
graduation requirements to: (1) Develop and implement a Profile of a Virginia
Graduate that identifies the knowledge and skills that students should attain
during high school in order to be successful contributors to the economy of the
Commonwealth, giving due consideration to critical thinking, creative thinking,
collaboration, communication, and citizenship; (2) emphasize the development of
core skill sets in the early years of high school; and (3) establish and
require students to follow in the later years of high school alternative paths
toward college and career readiness that include internships, externships, and
credentialing. The bill was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.
HB831
(Greason) requires the Board of Education to include computer science and
computational thinking, including computer coding in the Standards of Learning
and program of instruction. Several other Delegates had similar computer
science bills and were all incorporated into HB831. With a substitute the bill
was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.
Elementary
and Secondary Education subcommittee – Monday morning meeting
HB167
(Cole) permits local school boards to allow any
school board employee who is a former law-enforcement officer and ceased or
retired from serving in such capacity while in good standing to possess a firearm
in (i) any public elementary or secondary school in the school division,
including buildings and grounds; (ii) that portion of any property open to the
public and then exclusively used for school-sponsored functions or
extracurricular activities while such functions or activities are taking place;
and (iii) any school bus owned or operated by the local school board.
The subcommittee recommended tabled the bill.
HB187
(Taylor) requires the plans or blueprints for the construction of a new public
school building to include an indoor active shooter gunshot detection and
alerting system. The subcommittee recommended reporting and referring
the bill to the Appropriations committee on a 4-3 vote.
HB682
(Peace) allows a superintendent to apply to the
Department of Education for an annual waiver of the teacher licensure
requirements for an individual whom the local school board hires or seeks to
hire to teach in the area of career and technical education. The individuals
must have at least 4,000 hours of recent and relevant employment experience. The
subcommittee recommended reporting on a 7-2 vote.
HB864
(Hugo) allows a school board to conduct a teacher grievance hearing before a
three-member fact-finding panel. Under current law, the school board has the
option of appointing a hearing officer or conducting such hearing itself.
The subcommittee recommended tabling the bill.
HB1234
(Lingamfelter) authorizes a school security officer to carry a firearm in the
performance of his duties if he is a retired law-enforcement officer and the
local school board grants him the authority to carry a firearm in the
performance of his duties. The subcommittee recommended reporting the
bill on a 7-2 vote.
HB1279
(Anderson) requires public schools to hold a fire drill at least once every
week during the first 10 school days of each school session and at least two
additional fire drills during the remainder of the school session. Under
current law, every public school is required to hold a fire drill at least once
every week during the first 20 school days of each school session and at least
once every month during the remainder of the school session. The bill also
requires every public school to hold a lock-down drill at least once every week
during the first 20 school days of each school session and at least two
additional lock-down drills during the remainder of the school session. Under
current law, every public school is required to hold at least two lock-down
drills every school year. The bill was reported on an 8-1 vote from the
subcommittee.
Education Innovation subcommittee – Tuesday morning meeting
HB436
(Austin) requires the Department of Education to award recovery credit to any
student in grades three through eight who fails a Standards of Learning
assessment in English, reading, or mathematics, receives remediation, and
subsequently retakes and passes such assessment, including expedited retakes.
The subcommittee unanimously recommends reporting with amendments.
HB520
(LeMunyon) requires each school division that
provides for the redistricting of school boundaries to permit any enrolled
student who is assigned to a different school in the school division as a
result of such redistricting to remain, at the request of his parent, at the
school at which he is currently enrolled until he completes the highest grade
level at such school. While the bills includes several other provisions
relating to the redistricting process and included a substitute bill, the
subcommittee recommended tabling the bill.
HB1377
(LeMunyon) requires local school divisions to notify the parents of each student
where the number of students in a class exceeds the prescribed class size limit
no later than 10 days after the date on which the classes exceed the limits.
The bill was unanimously reported from the subcommittee.
HB565
(Lingamfelter) rewrites the required elements of a charter application
and the charter contracting process. The bill does not restrict the Board of
Education’s authority to authorize a charter school pursuant to the passage of
the constitutional amendment. The subcommittee recommends reporting the substitute on a 5-4 vote.
We look forward to seeing you at the VSBA Capital Conference tomorrow and Thursday!
